Chapter 546: Appeal for Environmental Protection

Chapter 546: Call for Environmental Protection

The number of Weibo posts under the hashtag #MengFanRidesWhaleInSouthChinaSea# was enormous. Besides the top photos of Meng Fan riding a whale, there was other content.

There were many photos and videos taken by people on the scene, as well as some written descriptions.

"The cruise ship is in trouble, there's a risk of sinking. What to do? Waiting online!"

"Damn it! Finally got a chance to take a cruise, and I run into a shipwreck! Whether I live or die doesn't matter—I just want to ask, where is my Rose?"

"No lifebuoys left. Good thing I have my belly!"

"A helicopter is coming! It's the rescue team. Mom, I'm saved, boohoo!"

"Helicopter, come down! What's with dropping a few lifebuoys? I can't even grab one!"

"Great, a boat is coming! Oh my god, can you believe it? The person driving the boat is Sister Tie!"

"Oh my god, what am I seeing? Are these dolphins or whales? So many!"

"There's someone on the whale!"

"Iron God, Iron God is leading a pod of whales to rescue us!"

"Awesome! It really is a pod of whales!"

"Iron God, the true King of the Sea! He can actually command whales!"

"Mom, I was saved by a whale!"

"I'm still both scared and excited! I've ridden a whale!"

"These dolphins are all so well-behaved!"

"With the help of the whale pod, we finally waited safely for the rescue boats to arrive. Now we're on the rescue boat, with towels and hot water. So happy!"

"The whale pod is leaving! I feel like crying!"

"…"

These Weibo posts were basically all accompanied by photos or videos. After reading through them, Meng Caiwei roughly understood what had happened and could clearly see the scene.

The general situation was that a cruise ship had encountered problems at sea. At the critical moment, Meng Fan appeared with a pod of whales, buying precious time for the rescue team. The final outcome was very good: everyone was saved, some were injured, but no one died.

"That kid!"

Meng Caiwei's feelings were naturally different from those of other netizens. Knowing from the trending topic that the rescue was over, she tried calling Wu Tong again, and this time it connected.

"I saw the Weibo. Are you okay? And that kid?"

Meng Caiwei was concise. After confirming that both were fine, she heard noise in the background and figured there were still many things to handle, so she hung up.

Actually, there wasn't much going on here at that point—at least Meng Fan and Wu Tong had nothing to worry about. Among the people rescued onto their yacht, the injured had been transferred to the rescue boat, and the uninjured stayed. They just needed to sail the yacht back.

For some of those who stayed on the yacht, today's events felt like a blessing in disguise—surviving a disaster and meeting their idol Iron God. At least they all got photos with Meng Fan.

The yacht followed the rescue boat to shore. After all the tourists disembarked, the rescue team also asked Meng Fan about the general situation for their report and took a photo with him. Then Meng Fan and Wu Tong sailed the yacht back.

By now, the internet was buzzing. Many friends called to ask about the situation and offer condolences. Meng Fan browsed the web, thought for a moment, and then posted a Weibo in response:

"Don't ask. If you ask, I was just diving and singing when suddenly I was nudged out by a false killer whale."

After a while, he posted another: "I'm not really sure, though. Not certain if they are false killer whales. @BoWuJun @WuQiongXiaoLiang"

He also specifically tagged two science communication bloggers, both of whom he had followed before becoming famous.

The two bloggers quickly reposted and replied, confirming they were false killer whales, and gave a brief introduction to their habits and living conditions. BoWuJun attached a picture of a false killer whale grinning, saying that although false killer whales are fierce in temperament, their smiles are gentle. While this group rescue was surprising, it showed that all creatures have spirit. He also separately posted some stories of dolphins rescuing people. WuQiongXiaoLiang also posted a separate Weibo, introducing some critical or severe survival conditions of dolphin groups, including false killer whales, and other marine life.

Both bloggers @-mentioned Meng Fan.

Meng Fan also reposted each of them and called for the protection of the ocean and marine life.

Next, Meng Fan seemed to suddenly return to his pre-fame days, becoming a Weibo maniac. Within an hour, he posted over twenty Weibo entries, most of which were photos and videos he had taken recently while playing by the seaside and diving underwater, sharing the beauty of the ocean and marine life. Finally, he posted a separate Weibo calling for the protection of the ocean and marine life, asking for reposts.

As a result, the topic of marine protection trended on the hot search.

This was not at all because Meng Fan wanted to use the environmental protection topic to divert attention from his whale-riding incident, but because he genuinely felt that this marine life rescue was a rare opportunity to promote marine protection.

In the past, to be honest, he hadn't paid much attention to marine protection, since he had few chances to interact with the ocean and marine life. But after starting diving these days, he was truly amazed by the underwater scenery. He genuinely loved the ocean and marine life. He also learned a bit about the places suitable for diving globally—if measured by human activity, there really weren't many left. That was when he began to care about marine environmental protection.

The saying "with great power comes great responsibility" has never been an empty phrase, especially when you can achieve with a simple effort what many people have worked hard for a long time to accomplish—why not do it? Influence, sometimes, should be used for things that seem unrelated to oneself but are worthwhile.

Meng Fan didn't know how many people this call would motivate to take action on environmental protection, but he felt that at least it could raise some awareness. Awareness is very important. To put it bluntly, it might be hard to get people to do things beneficial to the environment, but it's easier to get them not to do—or do less—things harmful to the environment. Some people honestly don't know what actions are harmful to the environment and do them unconsciously. Once they have awareness, they can pay a bit more attention. In the end, that is always beneficial to the environment.

The incident of riding a whale in the South China Sea did not disrupt Meng Fan and Wu Tong's subsequent vacation plans. They continued diving and playing there. The only difference was that Meng Fan posted more Weibo entries and some vlogs, all related to diving and marine life, occasionally showing off their romance. Life continued happily.

They stayed there until around late April, which added up to nearly half a month—much longer than they had originally planned.

Leaving Hainan Island, the two went to Lion City. Meng Caihui was still studying there, and Wu Tong also had a younger brother studying there—who was pursuing Meng Caihui. As luck would have it, Ms. Liang Qing happened to have an art exhibition there, so they stayed there for several more days.

After that, the two flew directly from there to the Maldives. After a few days of not finding it particularly interesting, they returned to Hangzhou.

Actually, time was about right. It was now mid-May, and Meng Fan had to go back. Next, they would enter the Asian Games cycle. Although the competition's scale and intensity were nothing to Meng Fan, its significance was no less than the Olympics or other world-class events, because it was a competition held on home turf. As an athlete of the Zhejiang provincial team, he took it very seriously. Moreover, he had received definite notice that he would be a torchbearer at the opening ceremony, and most likely the last torchbearer to light the cauldron.

(End of chapter)